After a highly controversial four years littered with court cases, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will get new leadership on Thursday.
The polls scheduled for Katsina State is expected to go ahead despite moves from some quarters.
A faction claiming to run the National Association of Nigerian Footballers wants the elections halted and Nigeria’s sports minister Solomon Dalung has labelled the electoral gathering as ‘illegal’.
However, football’s world governing body, FIFA, has given the election process its seal of approval by sending two observers Luca Piazza and Solomon Mudege.
While president of the Burkina Faso Federation, Sita Sangare, is expected to oversee the event on behalf of the Confederation of African Football.
As the incumbent, Pinnick is favourite.
But the Delta-born administrator could face an upset from any of these men.
1 – Aminu Maigari
On paper, Maigari is the biggest threat to Pinnick. The ex-Bauchi State FA boss served as NFF chief from 2010–2014 before being forced out on the grounds of “financial misappropriation”.
Under his watch, Nigeria won the Under-17 World Cup in 2013, the African Cup of Nations same year, reached the last 16 of the 2014World Cup and witnessed success for the Women’s national side in 2014.
2- Taiwo Ogunjobi
Ogunjobi isn’t a stranger to Nigerian football. He has been into administration for over two decades, serving as secretary-general on two separate occasions.
A former Nigeria international defender, Ogunjobi captained and administered one of the country’s traditional powerhouse clubs, Shooting Stars of Ibadan.
3 – Chinedu Okoye
Unlike the aforementioned pair, Okoye has no track-record in the Nigerian game. A retired referee in Switzerland, Okoye made headlines in July after he alleged wide-spread match-fixing in the country’s second-tier.
He withdrew his team from the league, Binomo Sporting Club, sent a petition to the anti-graft agency, informed the inspector general of Police, wrote to Fifa and threatened to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (Cas).
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